Lorelai's Graduation Day: Part 2
by HermyG07
Summary: From Episode 2 20: Lorelai's Graduation Day. What should have or could have happened in New York City that day. One Shot


**From Episode 2-20 (Lorelai's Graduation Day)**

**A/N: I didn't see the entire episode, so I don't know exactly what happens. I've done my best to fill it in the way _I_ thought it might happen. Also, I can't remember all of the details of comings and goings at that time in the series, so I'm not entirely sure that all of the references in the story are completely accurate. Therefore, I suppose it is very slightly AU. Also, this is my first fanfic, so reviews would be nice.**

**Disclaimer: I own very few of these lovely characters, and only own part of the plotline. A hint: The stuff I own is the stuff that you probably don't recognize.**

**Disclaimer #2: That _lovely_ description of the necklace from the shop belongs almost wholly to my good friend Johann Lopez, who was also my absolutely fabulous beta.**

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Rory gulped the remains of a bite of the loaded hot dog that Jess had ordered her. "You know," she said to him, glancing over as he led her down a crowded New York City street, "this hot dog is pretty good. I don't think I've ever had a hot dog of this caliber."

"I'll bet you haven't," Jess said casually, knowing that she wouldn't end there.

"Well, actually, I think there was a time when Al's had this All-American thing for the Fourth of July and he had hot dogs there. And let me tell you," she continued, stuffing the last bit of the hot dog in her mouth and muffling out, "those were some good hot dogs."

"Yeah, I'm sure no one can make hot dogs like a pancake house," Jess replied, taking a bite of his own hot dog.

Rory glanced up at the tall buildings they were passing. "Wow, this city is great. It's so… big."

"Yeah, New York City pretty much has that reputation. By the way, staring at all of the apartment buildings probably makes you look like an outsider."

Rory smiled shyly. "I can't help it. This place is so different from Stars Hollow."

"Yeah, well, wait 'til you see my apartment."

Rory spotted a store with a few glittery purses and funny looking clothes hanging in the window, with a quirky sign above the doorway that said "Shanna's Second-Hand." "Oh, Jess, can we go in there? It looks so cute!" she said excitedly. "I'll bet there's a ton of stuff in there I could use at home."

"Oh, yeah, I've been in there a couple times. Lady who owns it is alright."

Rory walked in, tucking the package with Lorelai's graduation present under her arm and digging through a rack of retro clothes and pulling out a pair of neon green sweatpants. She held them in front of Jess, who was standing behind her, looking at some sunglasses.

"Mm… not your color, huh?"

"I've never been much of a neon kinda guy."

She put the pants back and roamed around the shop, looking at different things from cutlery to wind chimes. As she looked through some beautiful sterling silver jewelry in the back of the shop, a woman came out of the door behind the counter. She was thin, with many multi-colored robes and some wavy tulle scarves flowing from her grey hair, and finally, as if it added to her elegant appearance, what seemed to be every piece of jewelry she owned, all shining and glimmering in the sunlight from the front windows.

"Hello, sweetheart," the woman said in a thick voice with an even thicker New York accent, so that her "sweetheart" sounded more like "sweethawt."

"Uh, hello," Rory replied uncomfortably, turning slowly and heading in Jess's direction. "Jess, is that Madame Bijou?"

"That's Mrs. Carashila. She and her son run the shop."

"Oh," Rory whispered back in conclusion, turning back to the counter and smiling shyly at the woman.

"Hello, Jess dear," Mrs. Carashila called to Jess, looking just past Rory and waving at him. Rory glanced back and saw him wave to her without lifting his head from an old encyclopedia he had picked up. She turned back to Rory and gave her a warm smile. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Rory," she replied, extending her hand over the counter. "It's very nice to meet you."

"Hello, Rory. Are you from around here? I don't remember seeing you before."

"Um, no, actually I live in Connecticut."

"Ma," came the voice of a scruffy-looking man walking through the back doorway, "I'm goin' out." He was wearing baggy black jeans, a shirt with "Gangsta" printed to look like spray-paint across the chest, and a backward black cap. He looked at Rory, whose head had come up as she heard the voice. "Who's the broad?"

"Excuse me?" Rory asked indignantly.

"Hey!" Jess yelled, looking up from the book angrily at the man.

"Garrett, leave! I'm so sorry, dear," she said to Rory apologetically.

"Ma, I told you, my name is G-Rate." He looked at Jess and raised his hand in a way he obviously thought was Jess's preferred greeting. "Whaddup, Jess-man? What's the did-dilly, baby? This your virgin girl?" Jess's features hardened and his fists clenched.

"Oh boy," Rory whispered under her breath, trying to catch Jess's eye, hoping to let him know to just let it go. He looked up at her and she took a deep, deliberate breath, and let it out. He blinked and his shoulders relaxed, but his fists remained tightly closed.

"I'm so sorry, dears," Mrs. Carashila said once again. "Garrett, OUT!"

"Arright, chill it, Momsta. I'm outty." He gave one last look to Rory and nearly had an arm around her waist before she smacked it away. Garrett stepped away and grinned lazily. "Seeya later, baby." With that he walked to the front of the shop and out the open doorway.

"So you're here visiting Jess?" Mrs. Carashila said to Rory, hoping to revive the situation. "Well, he is a nice boy. A very _handsome_ nice boy," she said hintingly, grinning at Rory. She blushed and looked back at Jess, who had grudgingly gone back to flipping through the pages of the encyclopedia.

"Yes, he is," Rory consented, turning back to the jewelry counter. She turned her attention to a different section and ran her index finger along the clear glass. As it trailed past a series of rather shabby necklaces, a sudden glare caught her eye. Its chain was simple, yet beautiful white gold, with a ring affixed to one end, and a shining heart to the other. The heart slid through the ring and hung down from the chain, tightening the rest of the item to a comfortable fit around the plastic neck model it was slung around. Around the heart were what seemed to be tiny, brilliantly blue sapphires, all perfectly set in the gold. Reminding herself that most of the items in this shop were cheap, she assumed that the stones were fake, but it still looked gorgeous. "Can I have a moment, please?"

She turned and walked back toward Jess. She looked over at what he was reading and said, "Hey."

"Oh hey, Rory," he said, turning toward her and closing the book with his finger as a bookmark.

"Hey, uh, what was that all about?" she asked with an awkward laugh.

"Oh, him. Yeah, he's a jerk-off."

"A regular Snoop Dogg," Rory said with a light smile.

"Yeah, complete with sexist jokes and wannabe popularity," Jess replied, turning back to the book once again.

Rory went back to the counter and turned her attention back to the stunning necklace.

"Do you like that, dear?" Mrs. Carashila asked, noticing Rory's gaze. "Let me tell you, that's one beautiful piece of jewelry. One of the few around here that's all real."

"All real?" Rory asked, peering up at her with her elbows propping her up on the countertop.

"The chain and heart are white gold and those stones are real sapphires."

"Oh, wow," Rory breathed, gazing intently at the glass case. Jess looked up yet again, this time setting the encyclopedia down on a table and striding over to the counter, looking over at the jewelry case.

"How much?" he asked Mrs. Carashila indifferently, surprising Rory as she looked back at him.

"Seventy dollars," Mrs. Carashila replied regretfully. Seeing Rory's look of shock, she added, "However, I can probably lower the price for you a bit. How about… fifty dollars? I'm sorry, I can't do much more than that. I do need to make a living," she said modestly.

Rory jumped in, "No, thank you, Mrs. Carashila—"

"Uh, can I see that, please?" Jess interjected, extending his hand toward the display. Mrs. Carashila scrambled to pick a key from a ring that must have contained at least twenty different keys, finally singling out a particularly small one and opening the back of the case. She removed the necklace with care and laid it gently in Jess's palm. He took a moment to examine the necklace, and then took the catch in his fingers, undoing it and looking over at Mrs. Carashila. "May I?" he asked her, gesturing with the chain toward Rory. Mrs. Carashila nodded, and Jess opened the catch, bringing the necklace in front of Rory, who quickly reached an arm over her shoulder and gathered her hair up. He lowered his hands to her throat and brought the cold chain around it, closing the catch and letting it rest at the back of her neck. His fingers ran lightly across her shoulders as he pulled his hands away, making her shiver a bit. Rory turned to a rusty mirror that stood on the other end of the counter and looked at herself with the necklace, admiring and running her fingers over it.

"Jess, you don't have to…" she said hurriedly, but he was already pulling his wallet from his back pocket. He extracted a few bills and handed them to Mrs. Carashila, who rung up the price of the necklace and printed a receipt, handing it to Jess and depositing the money in the register.

"Thanks," Jess said with a nod to Mrs. Carashila, turning away from the counter and striding out of the store, closely followed by Rory, who said a quick thank you to Mrs. Carashila and ran from the store toward Jess.

"Hey!" she said to him, halting to a stop with her hands at his shoulders. "Why did you do that?"

"I dunno, but you're looking the gift horse up the ass right now," he said, the indifference in his voice consistent.

She smiled happily. "Thank you."

A small smile remained on Rory's face as she absently fingered the necklace while following Jess closely. They were entering an unkempt street lined with tall, shabby buildings. Jess turned into one with a torn awning and opened one of the double doors. The outside of the building was apparently very misleading of the building inside. There was a front desk, at which sat a woman in maybe her mid-twenties, snapping on her gum and reading the latest issue of _People_. Other than that, the lobby was small with a white paint job that seemed to be brand new. Across the way there was an elevator that must have led to all of the apartments on the different floors. Jess passed the counter and waved carelessly to the receptionist, who simply grunted at him and continued to read the magazine.

Jess led Rory into the elevator and punched the _8_ button. Rory stood next to him during the ride up and looked around awkwardly.

"This building seems nice," she said shyly.

"Yeah, well, looking at them from the street, these buildings look pretty crappy. But inside, they're not so bad."

There was a _ding_ as the elevator halted at the eighth floor and the doors opened smoothly. Jess stepped out into the glum, tiled hallway and turned left, heading past about ten rooms before stopping at one with the plastic numbers _825_ to the right of the doorway. Jess took the keys from his pocket and inserted one into the door, turning the knob and gesturing Rory into the apartment. The apartment was basically a small bedroom that led into a tiny kitchen and a single bathroom. Rory walked slowly around the room, taking in the slightly peeling and faded flowery wallpaper. The bedroom contained a neatly made double bed, a tiny TV across the room, and a worn-looking, yet comfortable sofa against the wall.

"Do you want something to drink?" Jess asked, dropping his jacket on a chair by the door and walking through a doorway into the kitchen.

"Just water for me," she called to him, seating herself on the sofa. A few minutes later, Jess came out of the kitchen with a glass of water in one hand and a Coca-Cola can in the other. He handed the glass to her and sat beside her, reaching toward the end of the bed and picking up the remote. He flicked the TV on and a music video appeared, followed by one of those annoying _Pilates_ commercials that appear every ten minutes on MTV Hits.

"This is a pretty nice apartment," Rory said in a desperate attempt to generate conversation.

"Yeah, well, the superintendent and his family have this weird thing for taking in strays who can't afford their own apartments. The rent's pretty cheap and there's this Chinese restaurant down the street. And then there's a lady on the floor who, for some deranged reason, loves to clean, so she goes around all week cleaning all the rooms she has keys to, which is most of them since all the tenants here are just too damn lazy to clean their own apartments."

"A nice life story."

"Yeah, well it's kind of hard to refuse a woman who comes to your door with her mop and bucket saying that she's dying to wipe down your apartment."

"Oh, really? Well that's something new to put in _Dating for Dummies_."

"Yup. So uh, how's your mom?"

"Oh, she's okay," Rory replied, her mind completely glazing over the fact that said mother's graduation was about an hour away, meaning that she would never make it there on time. She looked at Jess and somehow caught his eye for the second time that day. "Jess."

As she inched closer to him he stood up and sat on the bed. Rory recollected herself and looked at him questioningly.

"I'm not doing this, Rory. You're still going out with that idiot, Dean. So what am I, that guy you pick up whenever you feel like it?" She could tell that he was getting angry with her, but she couldn't just sit back and let him throw the blame at her.

"Jess, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about those times when you just… you just forget Dean and school and you come to me and I know you're happy." Jess stood up and looked Rory straight in the eye. "I _know_ that you're happier with me than you are with him. But then you just turn away and go back to Dean and forget about me. And you talk about what it's doing to you. Yeah, I get that. But did you ever think about what it does to me?" He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, his throat beginning to get sore from yelling. "Rory, you're a good person. That's how you've always been. You want to please everyone: your mother, your boyfriend, Stars Hollow. So I'll bet it never occurred to you that being nice to everyone _else_ is hurting me. And this wouldn't occur to you because you spend so much time forgetting about me. Did you ever think that maybe you're not supposed to forget about me?"

Rory stood from the couch and headed toward the door.

"Well maybe you should try forgetting about me then, since I'm hurting you so much. Just forget it." She was out the door and halfway down the hall when Jess opened the door and yelled at her from the doorway.

"Damn it, Rory, that's not what I meant! Now you're going to run back to Dean again. Do you think he deserves that? You keep coming to me and then going back to him because you think it's the right thing, but eventually it's going to hurt both of us. Running back to him is not the right thing."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't love him. If you did, you wouldn't keep coming to me." He turned into his room and shut the door, not locking it but going back to the bed and laying on it, staring up at the ceiling, his mind buzzing. He heard the predictable click of the opening door and didn't look up until he heard his name.

"Jess," Rory said quietly, waiting for Jess to prop himself up on his elbows, "you're right. I– I don't love Dean. But I feel really bad because I know that he's such a good person and he doesn't deserve a girlfriend who cheats on him."

"Rory, we never exactly hit the sheets or anything. Then again, the guy sees me handing you a cup of coffee and he gets suspicious."

"That's not fair, he just wants to protect me."

"More like suffocate you. But you have to make a choice, Rory. You can't come to me when you get bored and then go back to him when you feel guilty."

"I know."

"So then what's it gonna be?" he asked, sitting up and gesturing with his arms, questioning her. She sighed deeply and went over to sit on the bed with him.

"It's just… Dean is such a great boyfriend and Mom likes him…"

"I don't want to know about them," he said. "What do _you_ want?"

"I want to be a good person, I guess."

"No, what do you want for yourself?"

"What I want…" she began pensively and cautiously, "What I really want would hurt too many people."

"Rory, you—" he gesticulated with his hands, as if searching for exactly what to say, "you've gotta stop doing whatever the hell everyone else wants you to do. Make yourself happy for once."

_Make myself happy_, Rory thought to herself, knowing what would make her happiest at that very moment, and knowing that that one thing would go completely against the people that loved her.

"Rory," Jess breathed rapidly, kissing her lips hard, as if trying to make her decision for her.

Rory was shocked for a moment, then she eased into him, resting one hand on his chest and the other on his head, weaving her fingers into his hair. She was now simply resolved.

He smiled and sighed, feeling, for what may have been the first time in his life, relieved to have gotten a girl's attention. He reached a hand up and stroked his fingers through her smooth hair, pulling her head toward his.

As she opened her lips to allow his tongue entry, she felt him slowly move away, progressing down her chin and bringing his lips all the way down her neck, causing her breathing to quicken and catch in her throat. He kissed each spot tenderly and caressed her collarbone, leaving one hand entangled in her hair while the other moved to the hem of her shirt.

"Oh," Rory said softly, reaching down and grabbing the bottom of the shirt, about to take it off. Jess grabbed her wrists and removed them, tightly gripping the fabric in his own hands. He quickly removed it, marveling at the freshly revealed skin.

Rory suddenly realized how exposed she was and crossed her arms, hoping to cover herself a bit. Jess rolled his eyes and smirked, taking her arms and kissing each hand, then moving them fully away to look at her. She was too much to take in at once, too much for him to simply stare at. He desperately wanted to remove her bra and kiss every last inch of her, but remembered who she was and looked into her eyes. She shakily granted him permission and he slowly laid her on the bed, leaning over her on his elbows. He stroked the sides of her arms and felt her shiver, causing him to react slightly. Putting his own reaction out of his mind, he descended again on her collarbone, smearing it with long, passionate kisses. She moaned and pushed into him, giving him a harder reaction and making his jeans unbelievably uncomfortable. He groaned and pulled away from her, putting his hands hurriedly to his jeans. Rory laughed and grabbed his wrists, leading them away from his fly.

"My turn," she teased, sitting up and forcing him back onto the bed. He propped himself up on his elbows, looking down at her as she fumbled with his button and zipper. He could tell that she was nervous as hell, and reached down with one hand to steady her. She smiled nervously and finished undoing the zipper, slowly pulling the jeans down his thighs.

"It would be easier like this," Jess said, moving his legs over the side of the bed and leading Rory onto the floor. She grinned and moved in between his legs where she could see his erection growing. She teasingly slid her fingers down the inside of his thighs, making it jump and Jess gasp. Rory knew what she wanted to do now.

Jess felt himself getting hotter and quickly removed his shirt, still feeling as if the room were nearly on fire. Rory hooked her thumbs in the waistbands of his boxers and pulling them off with slight difficulty. He was fully exposed right in front of her. She slid her index finger lightly down his shaft, making him jump again and causing his breathing to quicken.

"Rory…" he growled warningly, looking down at her. She grinned and took him in her hand, rubbing up and down and sending him reeling. She knew what he wanted her to do and was more than glad to do it. Her tongue slowly rotated the head and she felt liquid forming there. She took him in her mouth and felt overwhelmed but amazed.

Jess looked down at her, his chest rising and falling heavily, his mind going blank as he came closer to the edge. Just as he thought he was about to let go he heard one of the most horrific sounds in the world: his door opening.

"Jess, dear?" called a sweet, shaky female voice from the doorway. Jess was thankful there was a wall shielding the bed from view at the doorway, but he was having a hard time collecting himself.

He swallowed a few times and choked, "Um, not now… Mrs. Kendall… Um, please come back tomorrow or something." He was beyond caring how rude he sounded. Rory was trying to push him over the edge and he couldn't handle it.

"Oh, alright, dear. Have a nice day!" He heard the door click and he let out a wheezing breath.

"You are dead," he said to Rory, who laughed and went back down on him without hesitation, working him with her tongue, moving up and down until he threw his head back in ecstasy. He wasn't prepared for the intense pressure of containing himself and said, "Rory!" once before shakily coming in her mouth. Rory swallowed in surprise but looked back up at him, wiping her lips with satisfaction.

"Good?" she asked hopefully.

"You tell me," he replied, pulling her by her arms back on the bed. She rolled onto her back and smiled at him.

"Rory Gilmore, you are unbelievable," he said quietly, straddling her and looking into her eyes. They were really gorgeous. All of her was. He kissed her lips again and felt himself rubbing against her jeans. He grinned and moved his lips down to her neck again, remembering the necklace he had bought her maybe an hour ago. He took the heart in his mouth, gently biting her skin with it. His hands moved toward her bra and he took a moment to remove it, thankful for the front strap. He unwrapped the clothing from around her arms and lavished at the new sight that greeted him. Rory's breasts welcomed him, nipples taught and hard. He descended on the left breast, kneading the right with his hand. Rory moved and made small noises of pleasure as Jess continued to kiss and suck.

"Stop it," Rory chuckled, stroking her fingers through his hair and pulling him up to her lips. He took this opportunity to move his hands to her pants and quickly undo them, pushing them as fast as he could down her legs. She kicked them off the rest of the way and heard them thump softly onto the floor. He carefully slid a few fingers into the sides of her underwear and brought them down her legs, finally feeling the warmth emanating from her center. Rory held her breath as she felt Jess's fingers begin to touch and feel her, knowing that he was bringing her closer to her own end. He went back to kissing her lips hungrily while slowly inserting a finger into her. She jumped slightly, then felt herself tightening around him.

"Jesus, Rory you're tight," Jess whispered against her mouth, feeling himself get hard again. He began to insert a second finger, but made her gasp by brushing his thumb over her clit. She felt her center pulsating and getting wet, and as his fingers moved inside her she bucked against him, getting ever closer to the edge. She broke abruptly from his mouth and moaned out loud, coming over his fingers. She panted for a minute, putting a hand to his back and gripping him for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

"Think you're ready?" Jess asked in anticipation. Rory's eyes widened a bit, but she nodded. Jess suspended himself above her body, setting his arms on either side of her. He could feel her breath on his chest growing quicker.

Rory knew this was going to hurt. She had no idea how much, but she had taken health class and knew what losing her virginity would entail. She closed her eyes in hopes of calming herself down before Jess actually started and felt his fingers run through her hair. She looked at him with a shaky grin and he cupped her face, rubbing his thumb on her cheek.

"Relax," he whispered, kissing her again and poising himself carefully at her entrance. Before he could come down on her, Rory continued kissing him passionately while she put her hands to his shoulders and massaged them thoroughly, feeling a reaction in his breathing and at his erection. Jess momentarily forgot what he was about to do and continued to delve into her mouth with his tongue, his body lowering on her.

He began to feel her wetness and surfaced from the kiss, grinning down at her. "Wait a second," he grunted, shifting on his elbows and regretfully removing himself from her contact. He moved onto the bed and rolled her on her side, bringing her on top of him. She laid over him with her legs over his, looking at his face for direction. He brought her arms up so that they were near his shoulders and brought his own under hers, wrapping them around her back. She suddenly felt a surge of reassurance and nerves all at once. Having his arms so completely around her was nice. She put her right hand near his head and played at his hair with her fingertips while she buried her face in his right shoulder. He whispered in her ear, as if he thought she didn't know, "It's gonna hurt."

"I know," she mumbled back, kissing his skin softly.

"Go down easy," he whispered. "Stop when it hurts."

And then he felt it: one of the most sensational feelings in his life. Rory was sliding slowly down on him, tight as ever and still so amazing. He could feel her shaking like crazy and tried to wrap his arms further around her back, holding her securely to his body.

As Rory went down she could feel the painful stretching of accommodating Jess's width, but at the same time she was beginning to feel so fantastic. She kept her face close to his shoulder, kissing and nipping at the tender skin as she came painfully down. He was patient, and every time she felt pain or tearing she stopped for a moment and pressed herself to him more, feeling comfort in his contact. She could also tell that, no matter how slowly this was going, he was still becoming more aroused than ever. She could feel him sweating and his chest was rising and falling heavily as she continued to slide him in.

Finally, with a shaky glide, she felt that he was completely inside of her. The pain was dulling and she looked up at him, noticing the red spot on his shoulder that had been the subject of her kissing and biting. He looked at her and smiled with a strained look on his face. She felt his erection still throbbing, now completely inside of her, and she felt it would be unfair to make him stop now.

"It's okay," she said to him, giving him a reassuring smile. He sighed deeply and slid himself into her just a bit more before moving inside of her, feeling her move in sync with him. He kissed her on the lips and neck and anywhere else he could reach until he found that he couldn't handle any more. He was so near his peak, but he knew he couldn't come inside of her; she was already in enough pain. He gave a strangled groan as he turned onto his side, bringing a surprised Rory with him. As he started to slide out she firmly held his lower back, keeping him in her. This time she rolled and he was too far gone to refuse.

"Rory," he choked, looking down at her in hope of her understanding, "I can't. Not when I'm still in you."

"Jess, please," Rory whispered in his ear.

That was all he needed. Arms still around her, he pulled her tightly to him, spilling heavily inside her with a loud moan. Her head thrown into the pillow, Rory came to her intense peak moments after him.

Exhausted, Jess collapsed on the bed right next to her, still inside of her and still passionately hot and sweaty. Rory looked over at him and carefully kissed his left shoulder, running her hand gently over his back. He shuddered and turned his head toward her, kissing her ear and finding her lips. He came away and smiled down at her, closing his eyes as she put her hands up and ran her fingers through his hair for what must have been the hundredth time that night. And, oddly enough, it still felt good.

"Oh, Jess," Rory grinned as she looked down his front.

"What," he asked, waiting to hear the joke.

"Look at your chest."

Jess looked down and, sure enough, there was an imprint somewhere below his collarbone of a heart. Looking straight downward, he saw that Rory now had one as well, underneath the necklace. He moved it and kissed the heart once, then he pulled himself up and slowly slid out of her, watching her face carefully. Miraculously, she didn't wince once the whole time until he was completely out of her, feeling suddenly cold and severed. He looked down to see that she hadn't bled too much, which was a good sign for her. He sat at the edge of the bed until he felt her rise behind him and put a steadying hand on his shoulder. When she removed it again he rose, putting on the underwear he had shed on the floor. Only now did he see panic on her face.

"Oh, no," she began in horror, putting her hand to her face. Jess, figuring that she was regretting what she had just done, felt his blood boiling.

"What?" he asked, fire starting to burn in his eyes.

Without looking up at him Rory mumbled, "Mom's graduation."

"What?" he asked, taken aback.

"My mom's graduation was this afternoon. I was supposed to be there. I invited Grandma and Grandpa and she will be so upset if I'm not there. She didn't know I was inviting them but I felt bad because I thought they would want to come—"

"Whoa! Now just wait a second, lemme see if I'm getting this straight: you're freaking out over missing this graduation ceremony that your mom didn't even want to go to in the first place, is that right?"

"She did want to go, she just wanted to seem nonchalant about it. But that's beside the point! I have to get back there. I'm going to miss the ceremony, but at least I can be there to congratulate her. I'm sorry, Jess, but I have to go."

"Fine," he said, for the first time he could remember not feeling completely annoyed at this sort of thing. "You might want to clean up, though," he said, pointing her toward the bathroom. She nodded and picked up her various articles of clothing, bringing them with her into the small bathroom and locking the door behind her.

She stopped in front of the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked pretty much the same. Maybe her hair was a little messed up, but other than that, she looked the same. Same blue eyes, same bright, glowing cheeks. Or maybe that glowing brightness had to do with the exhilaration that Jess had given her. Whatever it was, she thought it looked more gorgeous than anything about her right now. She went to the shower and ran the water, cleaning the blood from her legs. She took a towel and dried herself, putting on her underwear and clothing and looking again in the mirror. Her hair was a bit wet, but other than that she looked fine. She opened the door to find a fully dressed Jess sitting on the bed, running his hands through his hair.

"About time," he said, getting up and coming toward her, handing her the package with Lorelai's present and then leading her to the door. He opened it and held it open for her.

She stood in the doorway for a minute before kissing him one last time on the lips, leaning in and whispering in his ear, "I love you." He held the door with his back to it and pulled Rory into a hug, saying to her, "I still love you."

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**A/N: Yes, I realize that the ending may be a tiny bit corny, but I thought it was nice, so please R&R. Thanks so much!**


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